A Look at the Fighting Life of George Foreman

A Look at the Fighting Life of George Foreman

By Sina Latif 

It was recently the 50th anniversary of George Foreman’s professional debut against Don Waldhelm on the undercard of Joe Frazier v Jerry Quarry in 1969. Four years later in 1973, Foreman set the boxing world alight, defeating Frazier and knocking the champion down an incredible six times in the first and second rounds.

After 21 amateur fights, Foreman had won an Olympic gold medal at the 1968 Mexico City games within two years of changing his life for the better and replacing the troubled, poverty-stricken streets of Texas with a life dedicated to boxing. This was an unbelievable achievement. Foreman was showing from the very beginning that there are no limits to what he can achieve.

On his professional debut less than a year after, Foreman showed damaging punching power, and then continued to display his destructive power throughout his great career.

The Texan is one of the most feared punchers in heavyweight boxing history, and when Foreman unleashed his big shots, he was unstoppable.

Any man put in front of Foreman prior to his defeat to Muhammad Ali, regardless of credentials, was rolled over.

Before Foreman’s destruction of Frazier, Frazier had wiped out the heavyweight division and had established his greatness by giving Ali his first career defeat. Frazier was the unbeaten undisputed champion. A great champion, seen as close to invincible at the time. Then, Foreman came along and obliterated Frazier with six brutal knockdowns.

Foreman then demolished Ken Norton. He was proving to be just as effective at the highest level as against the below-par opponents, knocking out all in front of him in equally devastating fashion.

Heading into the Rumble in the Jungle against Ali, Foreman had beaten Frazier and his first two challengers, one of whom included Norton, in a total of five rounds.

Foreman had become an irrepressible force of nature and it really could only have took the extraordinary talents of ‘The Greatest’ to become the first man to beat Foreman.

Their fight in Zaire proved to be perhaps the most famous in the history of boxing.

Wins over Frazier, Norton, Ron Lyle and George Chuvalo in the first chapter of his career deserved the utmost respect, and just as Foreman was starting to be forgotten about after disappearing into oblivion away from boxing, he made a huge comeback a decade later at the age of 40 with plenty still left in the tank, proving that age is just a number.

At 45 years of age, he became the oldest heavyweight champion in history.

Also, to make this amazing achievement all the more impressive, is the fact that he didn’t beat a chump to become champion again. He beat an unbeaten Michael Moorer. A man who had moved up from light-heavyweight to beat an in-prime Evander Holyfield. Moorer was leading on the judges scorecards against Foreman, until Foreman showed that his incredible punching power at 45 years of age was still there and he knocked out the younger, fresher champion on a historic night.

Foreman shared the ring with the likes of Ali, Frazier and Norton in the 70’s, and Moorer and Holyfield in the 90’s. He fought the best of two different era’s which were 20 years apart, and made it to the top of the mountain in both eras. The only man who knocked out Foreman in the end was Ali.

Foreman’s accomplishments in his second career were undeniably very, very special. On an iconic night in Atlantic City in 1991 against Holyfield, with both Ali and Frazier in the ring prior to the fight, for Foreman to be so competitive over 12 rounds against a young, undefeated Holyfield, who would also go on to become a heavyweight legend, and then beat Holyfield’s conqueror to eventually become champion again, was amazing.

Foreman changed boxing forever, proving that age is indeed just a number. A fighters’ career is not necessarily finished once they hit 40 years of age.

More importantly, Foreman inspired many people outside of boxing too, providing the perfect example that there are no limits and anything can be achieved with self-belief. One would think he had no plausible reason to believe that at 45, he could be world champion again, but George believed that there are no limits.

He is the only man from an extremely special trio of heavyweight champions that is still with us today, and he can take pride in providing such special lasting memories for many and being such an inspiration both inside and outside of the ring for past and future generations to come.